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OK, 

ITS  CAUSE  AND  CURE 


United  States  officer  with  the 
stars  and  stripes. — Liberty  versus 
Chains. 


The  African  claiming  his  rights  as 
expressed  in  the  instrument  held 
in  his  hand. 


Jeff.  Davis  holding  the  principles 
on  which  the  Southern  Confederacy 
is  founded. 


BY  A  SON  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


NEW  YORK:  V 

<P  PUBLISHED  BY  SAMUEL  HOPPER,  &  CO.,  171  BROADWAY  (Basement).  4 

£)  1861-  £ 
' — - 


EAR-MARKS  OE  TRAITORS 


Jeff.  Davis  expects  the  Northern  traitors  to  take  up  arms,  but  he  is  mis¬ 
taken  !  They  have  no  notion  of  fighting.  Having  all  the  cunning  of  the  fox, 
they  lack  the  savageness  of  the  wolf.  This  is  the  distinction  between  a  Traitor 
and  a  Rebel. 

Ten  well-armed  soldiers,  in  support  of  a  good  cause,  would  put  a  thousand  of 
them  to  flight.  Just  half  way  between  the  supporters  of  the  Government  and 
its  foes,  these  foxy  traitors  have  taken  their  stand,  loathed  and  shunned  as  a 
pestilence  by  the  former,  condemned  and  detested  as  cowards  by  the  latter, 
they  remain  “  stinking  and  shining  and  shining  and  stinking  like  rotten  mackerel 
by  moonlight.”  Every  principle  resembling  manhood  has  fallen  into  decay, 
and  no  matter  how  they  attempt  to  disguise  themselves,  they  can  always  be 
told  by  the  following  ear-marks: — They  are  always  war  men  when  the  country 
is  at  peace  ;  and  invariably  peace  men  when  the  country  is  at  war.  They  now 
look  upon  war  as  a  terrible  calamity.  Adverse  news  to  the  cause  of  the  Gov¬ 
ernment  seems  to  light  up  their  countenances  with  joy.  But  the  defeat  of  the 
rebels  casts  a  gloom  over  their  faces,  and  they,  again  begin  to  snuff  innocent 
blood.  They  endeavor  to  revive  party  lines  in  order  to  dampen  the  ardor  of  the 
patriots  who  have  forgotten  minor  differences  to  defend  their  country.  They 
think  it  would  be  best  to  let  the  government  be  broken  up,  and  recognize  the 
Southern  Confederacy,  and  are  continually  prating  about  the  impossibility  of 
conquering  the  South. 

England,  they  say,  would  not  permit  it,  and  boast  that  she  and  France  will 
brake  the  blockade.  They  must  have  cotton. 

Everything  they  can  do  to  destroy  Government  credit  is  eagerly  done.  They 
have  a  great  horror  for  a  national  debt.  The  country  will  be  ruined  with  taxes. 
We  have  no  right,  they  say,  to  saddle  such  a  burden  upon  our  children. 

The  property  of  such  fellows,  if  they  have  any,  should  everywhere  be  confis¬ 
cated,  and  made  to  pay  the  expense  of  the  war.  The  time  for  trifling  has  gone 
by.  Either  they  or  us  will  have  to  change  our  sentiments.  It  will  not  do  to 
sacrifice  our  own  interests  and  the  interests  of  posterity  in  this  great  nation  to 
that  of  rebels  and  traitors.  Our  children  will  view  this  war  the  same  as  we  now 
do  the  war  of  the  Revolution.  That  the  principles  sustained  were  worth  more 
than  ten  thousand  times  their  cost,  and  they  will  receive  them  of  us  as  we  re¬ 
ceived  them  from  our  fathers,  as  a  priceless  inheritance  ;  and  in  the  general  joy 
of  surrounding  freemen,  the  debt  will  be  viewed  as  a  blessing. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1861,  by 
SAMUEL  HOPPER  &  CO., 

In  the  Clerk’s  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States,  for  the 
Southern  District  of  Hew  York. 


m  7ii 
Wl% 


THE  WAR  AND  ITS  END; 


OR, 


IN  absolute  monarchy  the  people  are  subjects,  and  have  no 
voice  in  the  government.  Rebellion  against  their  oppressors 
is  considered  a  right,  and  is  known  throughout  the  civilized 
world  by  the  sacred  name  of  revolution.  But  in  a  representa¬ 
tive  form  of  government,  like  the  United  States,  the  public  will, 
expressed  according  to  the  Constitution,  is  considered  law,  and 
the  Executive,  whoever  he  may  be,  is  bound  by  his  oath  to  see 
it  properly  executed. 

It  is  the  duty  of  the  minority,  who  have  been  out-voted,  to 
quietly  give  their  consent,  and  by  so  doing  they  rise  from  the 
changing  quicksands  of  party  strife  to  the  exalted  position  of 
patriots  and  supporters  of  the  Constitution.  When  the  mi¬ 
nority  not  only  refuse  to  submit  to  the  public  will,  but  rise  up 
in  arms  rgainst,  for  the  purpose  of  overthrowing  that  will,  their 
organization  is  not  entitled  to  any  more  respectable  name  than 
a  conspiracy,  or  mob,  and  in  every  civilized  country,  men  con¬ 
stituting  a  body  of  either  kind,  are  not  entitled  to  the  respect¬ 
able  name  of  soldiers.  Murder  and  theft  are  generally  their 
leading  characteristics  ;  and  such  we  must  confess  seems  to  be 
the  object  of  the  one  now  raging  at  the  South.  The  life  of  a 
Northern-born  citizen  is  not  safe  in  any  of  the  States  that  have 
seceded — and  his  property  is  seized  and  used  for  the  benefit  of 
the  conspirators.  Just  debts  due  to  citizens  residing  in  the 
Northern  States  are  forbidden  by  the  mob  to  be  -paid,  and  all 
property  they  can  lay  hands  on  belonging  to  the  Federal  Gov¬ 
ernment,  they  steal  and  appropriate  to  their  own  use.  In  war¬ 
fare  they  are  equally  as  dishonorable — they  skulk  about  like 


4 


THE  WAR  AND  ITS  END  ; 

miscreants  in  ambush,  and  only  from  behind  some  building, 
tree,  or  masked  battery,  will  they  give  fight :  even  then  they 
hold  to  the  good  old  doctrine — 

“  He  that  shoots  and  runs  away, 

May  live  to  shoot  another  day.” 

All  their  actions,  thus  far,  instead  of  being  characterized  with 
the  dignity  of  soldiers,  fighting  for  their  independence,  have 
been  the  low,  groveling,  dishonest,  cowardly,  and  destructive 
spirit  of  a  mob. 

That  this  conspiracy  has  been  gotten  up  on  a  grand  sca’e  no 
one  will  attempt  to  deny — and  it  is  of  the  highest  importance 
that  the  whole  country  should  know  the  true  cause  and  object 
of  the  conspirators. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  their  first  object  is  to  overthrow 
the  legally  constituted  authorities  at  Washington- — to  dissolve 
the  Union,  break  up  and  destroy  the  national  compact,  and  blot 
the  United  States  out  from  the  map  of  nations.  The  people  of 
the  loyal  States  are  not  only  surprised,  but  disgusted,  with  this 
unholy  and  damnable  plot  to  subvert  the  best  government  the 
wisdom  of  man  ever  established,  but  are  casting  about  them  to 
ascertain  the  true  cause  of  this  great  Southern  outbreak.  To 
furnish  the  desired  information,  in  a  cheap  and  concise  form, 
is  the  sole  object  of  the  author. 

What  has  poisoned  the  minds  of  the  Southern  people,  and 
weaned  their  affections  from  the  Constitution  of  their  fathers? 
On  this  subject,  we  are  not  left  to  vague  conclusions,  drawn 
from  false  premises — not  left  to  travel  in  an  unknown  wilder¬ 
ness,  nor  grope  in  darkness  without  the  aid  of  an  experienced 
and  unerring  guide.  We  shall  first  give  the  reasons,  as  given 
by  the  South,  that  have  caused  the  present  trouble,  and  shall 
quote  from  no  mean  authority.  The  first  We  shall  introduce  is 
an  extract  from  a  speech  delivered  by  Alex.  H.  Stephens, 
Vice-President  of  Jeff.  Davis’  Confederacy,  in  Savannah,  Geo., 
on  the  12th  day  of  March,  1861.  Mr.  Stephens  said — 

11  The  new  Constitution  sets  at  rest  forever  all  the  agitating  questions 
respecting  our  peculiar  institution,  African  slavery,  as  it  exists  among  us, 
the  proper  status  of  the  negro  in  our  form  of  civilization.  This  was  the 
immediate  cause  of  the  late  rupture  and  present  revolution.  Jefferson, 
in  his  forecast,  had  anticipated  this  as  the  rock  on  which  the  old  Union 
would  split.  The  prevailing  opinion  entertained  by  him  and  most  of  the 


OR,  ITS  CAUSE  AND  CURE. 


5 


leading  statesmen  at  the  time  of  the  formation  of  the  old  Constitution, 
was  that  the  enslavement  of  the  African  was  in  violation  to  the  law  of 
nature — that  it  was  wrong  in  principle,  socially,  morally,  and  politically. 
Our  new  government  is  founded  on  directly  the  opposite  idea.” 

We  will  now  introduce  another  witness,  high  in  authority 
among  the  rebels.  The  Charleston  Mercury  of  March  the  6th, 
1861,  says — 

“  It  is  said  that  President  Davis  has  vetoed  the  hill  passed  by  Con¬ 
gress  to  suppress  the  slave  trade.  The  ground  of  the  veto  is  not  quite 
known,  but  it  is  certainly  unfortunate  that  there  should  be  a  difference 
between  Congress  and  the  President  on  such  a  subject.  Slavery  is  the 
immediate  cause  of  the  existence  of  the  Confederacy,  and  that  differences 
should  exist  concerning  it  in  its  councils  is  very  much  to  be  deplored.” 

One  more  rebel  witness,  and,  as  a  lawyer  would  say,  we  rest. 
We  only  introduce  this  last  to  amuse  the  reader.  Being  a 
chapter  on  love — always  in  demand  among  the  ladies — we  have 
no  doubt  jdiey  will  pardon  us  for  introducing  it  here,  from  the 
Southern  Literary  Messenger ,  Richmond,  Ya. — 

“  Any  man  who  does  not  love  slavery  for  its  own  sake,  as  a  divine  in¬ 
stitution — who  does  not  worship  it  as  the  corner-stone  of  civil  liberty — 
who  does  not  adore  it  as  the  only  possible  social  condition  on  which  a 
Republican  form  of  government  can  be  erected,  and  who  does  not  in  his 
inmost  soul  wish  to  see  it  extended  over  the  whole  earth  as  a  means  of 
reformation,  second  in  dignity,  importance,  and  sacredness  only  to  the 
Christian  religion — he  who  does  not  love  slavery  with  this  love  is  an 
abolitionist.” 

There  are  many  things  to  love,  but  loving  slavery  is  like  bad 
whisky — it  diseases  as  well  as  intoxicates  the  brain.  A  man 
must  have  often  been  deceived,  yea,  he  must  have  been  sorely 
tried  and  crossed  with  every  kind  and  condition  of  love,  before 
an  old  harlequin  like  slavery  could  captivate  his  diseased  and 
worn-out  affections. 

Mr.  Stephens,  the  first  witness  we  brought  to  the  stand,  is  a 
man  in  the  ring,  and  sets  forth  clearly  and  distinctly  that  slavery 
is  the  sole  cause  of  the  war,  and  for  the  sole  purpose  of  extending 
and  perpetuating  that  institution  on  this  continent,  the  South¬ 
ern  Confederacy  was  formed.  The  second  witness,  the  Charles¬ 
ton  Mercury ,  says  that  slavery  is  the  immediate  cause  of  the 
existence  of  the  Confederacy. 


6 


THE  WAR  AND  ITS  END  ; 


Their  testimony  is  plain,  straightforward,  and  undisguised. 
It  cannot  be  explained  away  or  misunderstood  ;  they  simply 
say  what  they  mean  and  mean  what  they  say.  After  years  of 
calm  deliberation,  carefully  considering  the  question  in  all  its 
bearings,  they  have  made  the  issue,  and  it  is  for  the  people  of 
the  free  States  to  determine  whether  they  will  submit  to  have 
their  government  broken  up,  and  the  Union  destroyed,  or 
whether  they  will  make  war  to  the  death  on  the  power  that 
threatens  their  destruction. 

The  present  Constitution  of  the  United  States  makes  liberty 
national,  leaving  slavery  local.  The  South  demands  that 
slavery  shall  be  nationalized  and  liberty  made  local.  They 
want  to  make  a  weather-cock  of  the  Constitution,  so  it  can  be 
changed  to  their  whims  by  the  storm  of  rebellion.  After  years 
of  political  intrigue  and  encroachments  on  its  sacred  precincts, 
they  failed  to  accomplish  their  unholy  designs,  and  as  a  last 
resort  have  demanded  a  separation  from  the  States  where 
slavery  does  not  exist  :  and  have  commenced  by  organizing 
the  Southern  Confederacy,  making  slavery  the  basis.  It  is  now 
absolutely  necessary  that  the  people  should  examine  this  ques¬ 
tion  for  themselves,  and  decide  whether  they  will  give  up 
liberty  to  have  slavery  nationalized,  or  submit  to  have  their 
government  broken  up,  that  this  same  slaver}7  may  be  perpetu¬ 
ated  by  its  overthrow. 

We  now  propose  to  examine  into  the  origin  and  character  of 
slavery,  and  its  position  at  the  formation  of  our  government, 
and  in  doing  this  we  shall  be  brief,  for  brevity  is  our  motto. 

It  was  in  broad  day-light  on  the  20th  day  of  August,  1620, 
on  the  banks  of  James’  River,  Va.,  that  the  great  political 
whoredom  commenced.  England,  the  old  harlequin,  after  hav¬ 
ing  employed  all  her  seductive  and  wily  arts,  and  failing  to 
seduce  the  poor  African,  there,  in  the  face  of  civilized  man  and 
before  high  heaven,  ravished  and  robbed  him  of  his  God- 
given  inheritance- — liberty-^-and  entailed  on  him  and  his  pos¬ 
terity  the  everlasting  curse  of  slavery. 

As  far  as  this  country  is  concerned,  this  peculiar  institution 
is  of  British  origin,  and  in  the  language  of  a  British  statesman, 
we  can  proclaim  that 

“  If  slavery  is  the  misfortune  of  America,  it  is  the  crime  of  Great 
Britain— we  poured  the  fatal  infection  into  her  veins,  and  fed  and  cherish¬ 
ed  the  leprosy  which  now  deforms  that  otherwise  prosperous  country.” 


OR,  ITS  CAUSE  AND  CURE. 


7 


For  one  hundred  and  fifty-six  years  after  its  introduction,  all 
of  which  time  the  country  was  a  colony  of  Great  Britain,  slavery 
was  on  the  increase,  and  wrhen  our  fathers  declared  their  inde¬ 
pendence  there  were  about  six  hundred  thousand  scattered 
over  twelve  of  the  original  thirteen  States,  Massachusetts  hav¬ 
ing  none.  This  was  one  of  the  rich,  social  legacies  left  us  by 
the  mother  country.  We  give  some  extracts  to  show  the 
opinions  entertained  of  the  institution  by  the  statesmen  of  that 
time.  Thomas  Jefferson,  in  the  original  draft  of  the  Declara¬ 
tion  of  Independence,  makes  the  following  charge  against  the 
king  of  Great  Britain  : — 

11  He  waged  a  cruel  war  against  human  nature  itself,  violating  the 
most  sacred  right  of  life  and  liberty  in  persons  of  a  distant  people,  who 
never  offended  him,  by  captivating  and  carrying  them  into  slavery  in 
another  hemisphere,  or  to  incur  miserable  deaths  by  their  transportation 
thither.  This  piratical  warfare — the  opprobrium  of  infidel  powers — as 
the  warfare  of  the  Christian  king  of  Great  Britain.  Determined  to  keep 
a  market  where  men  should  be  bought  and  sold,  he  has  at  length  pros¬ 
tituted  his  negative  for  suppressing  any  legislative  attempt  to  prohibit 
and  restrain  that  execrable  commerce.” 

In  a  letter  to  a  friend  in  1814,  Jefferson  remarks  : — 

“  We  must  wait  with  patience  the  workings  of  an  overruling  Provi¬ 
dence,  and  hope  that  that  is  preparing  the  deliverance  of  these  our  bre¬ 
thren.  When  the  measure  of  their  tears  shall  be  full,  when  their  groans 
shall  have  involved  heaven  itself  in  darkness,  surely  a  God  of  justice  will 
awaken  to  their  distress.  Nothing  is  more  certainly  written  in  the  book 
of  fate,  than  that  this  people  shall  be  free.” 

A  few  weeks  before  his  death,  in  a  letter  to  James  Heaton, 
dated  May  20th,  1826,  he  said,  “  My  sentiments  have  been  forty 
years  before  the  public  ;  had  I  repeated  them  forty  times  they 
would  only  become  the  more  stale  and  threadbare  ;  although  I 
will  not  live  to  see  them  consummated  they  will  not  die  with 
me.”  On  the  40th  page  of  his  Notes  on  Virginia,  is  to  be  found 
this  solemn  meditation.  ‘‘Indeed  I  tremble  for  my  country  when 
I  reflect  that  God  is  just,  that  his  justice  cannot  sleep  forever.” 
The  above  are  the  opinions  entertained  by  our  beloved  Jeffer¬ 
son  concerning  slavery,  giving  his  wishes  and  fears.  We  might 
fill  up  the  entire  pamphlet  with  similar  extracts  from  the 
writings  of  this  great  man,  but  this  will  suffice. 


8 


THE  WAR  AND  ITS  END  ; 


Now  for  the  views  entertained  by  the  great  General  that 
achieved  our  independence.  In  a  letter  to  Robert  Morris, 
dated  April  12th,  1786,  Washington  says,**  I  hope  it  will  not  be 
conceived  from  these  observations  that  it  is  my  wish  to  hold 
the  unhappy  people  who  are  the  subject  of  this  letter  in  slavery. 
I  can  onty  say  there  is  not  a  man  living  who  wishes  more  sin¬ 
cerely  than. I  do  to  see  some  plan  adopted  for  the  abolition  of 
it.  There  is  only  one  proper  and  effectual  mode  by  which 
it  can  be  accomplished,  and  that  is  by  legislative  authority  ; 
and  this  as  far  as  my  suffrage  goes  shall  never  be  wanting.” 

Washington  advocated  that  slavery  should  be  abolished  by 
legislative  enactment,  without  compensation,  and  practised  the 
doctrine  by  giving  at  his  death  those  under  his  care  their 
liberty.  To  prove  this  we  make  the  following  extract  from  his 
last  will  and  testament. 

“Upon  the  decease  of  my  wife,  it  is  my  will  and  desire  that  all  the 
slaves  I  hold  in  my  own  right  shall  receive  their  freedom.  To  emanci¬ 
pate  them  during  her  life  would,  though  earnestly  wished  by  me,  be  at¬ 
tended  with  such  inseparable  difficulties  on  account  of  their  intermixture 
by  marriage  with  dower  negroes,  as  to  incite  the  most  painful  sensation, 
if  not  disagreeable  consequences,  from  the  latter,  while  both  descriptions 
are  in  the  occupancy  of  the  same  proprietor,  it  not  being  in  my  power, 
under  the  tenure  by  which  the  dower  negroes  are  held,  to  manumit  them.” 

When  Mrs.  Washington  ascertained  the  contents  of  the  will, 
she  immediately  waived  her  right  of  dower,  and  the  slaves 
were  made  free. 

We  will  now  give  the  opinion  of  James  Madison,  author  of 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  Speaking  of  that  in¬ 
strument  he  says  : — 

“  We  thought  it  wrong  to  admit  in  it  the  idea  that  there  could  be  pro¬ 
perty  in  man.” 

The  following  proviso  in  the  Constitution  is  the  only  thing 
that  would  seem  to  squint  at  that  doctrine — and  Madison,  who 
should  be  the  best  judge  of  what  he  has  written,  says  it  has  no 
reference  to  slavery.  From  the  Constitution  : — 

K  No  person  held  to  service  or  labor  in  one  State,  under  the  laws 
thereof,  escaping  into  another,  shall,  in  consequence  of  any  law  or  regu¬ 
lation  therein,  be  discharged  from  such  service  or  labor ;  but  shall  be  de¬ 
livered  up  on  claim  of  the  party  to  whom  such  service  or  labor  may  be 
due.” 


OR,  ITS  CAUSE  AND  CURE. 


9 


“  On  motion  of  Mr.  "Randolph  the  word  servitude  was  struck  out,  and 
service  unanimously  inserted,  the  former  being  thought  to  express  the 
ondition  of  slaves  and  the  latter  the  obligations  of  free  persons.” — Madi¬ 
son's  Papers,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  1569. 

We  have  now  given  the  opinions  of  the  author  of  the  Decla¬ 
ration  of  Independence,  the  Commauder-in-Chief  of  the  Army, 
who  achieved  it,  also  those  of  the  author  of  our  glorious  Con¬ 
stitution,  which  stands  yet  as  a  monument  to  civil  and  religious 
liberty — Jefferson,  Washington,  and  Madison.  Immortal  names  1 
Perhaps  in  no  country  in  the  wide  world  could  be  found  such 
liberty-loving,  self-sacrificing  patriots,  and  their  opinions,  so 
clearly  expressed  by  themselves  in  the  above  extracts,  should 
form  the  political  text-book  of  every  man  who  has  lived  under 
the  free  government  which  their  wisdom  and  patriotism  es¬ 
tablished.  They  entirely  ignored  slaveiy,  as  being  any  part 
of  the  general  government.  It  was  neither  recognized,  in  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  nor  in  the  Constitution,  being 
tolerated  to  exist  only  as  a  local  disease.  It  was  as  foreign  in 
fact  as  it  was  in  spirit  to  the  whole  tenor  of  our  institutions. 
After  eradicating  “  kings’  evil  ”  entailments  of  estates  and 
hereditary  titles  of  nobility  from  the  body  politic,  our  fathers 
concluded  that  by  simply  not  recognizing  slavery  that  the  moral 
sentiments  of  the  people  would  eventually  outgrow  it,  and  that 
the  principles,  which  they  waded  through  sorrow  and  blood  to 
establish,  would  live  after  slavery  was  dead. 

We  are  supported  in  the  foregoing  views,  not  only  by  the 
organic  laws  themselves,  but  by  the  well  known  opinions  en¬ 
tertained  by  their  authors,  to  suppose  men  holding  views  like 
Jefferson,  Washington,  and  Madison,  would  so  far  prostitute 
their  principles  as  to  fasten  on  future  generations  an  evil  which 
they  desired  and  prayed  they  might  live  to  see  abolished.  Mr. 
Stephens  clearly  sets  forth  in  his  Savannah  speech  that  the 
South  so  understands  the  Constitution.  He  says  all  the  lead¬ 
ing  statesmen  of  that  time  held  views  against  the  enslavement 
of  the  African.  He  admits  that  the  old  Constitution  was 
founded  on  liberty,  and  boasts  that  the  one  adopted  at  Mont¬ 
gomery  is  founded  on  slavery,  remarking  that  the  stone  that 
the  old  builders  rejected  has  become  the  chief  one  in  the  cor¬ 
ner  of  the  new  confederacy. 

The  real  cause  of  the  war  was  not  in  anything  that  the 
government  had  done  or  intended  to  do,  neither  was  it  because 


10 


THE  WAR  AND  ITS  END  ; 


Mr.  Lincoln  was  elected  President  ;  for  the  South  broke  up 
and  divided  the  Democratic  party  at  Charleston  for  the  sole 
purpose  of  securing  his  election,  that  they  might  raise  the 
war  cry  against  Black  Republicanism,  and  rally  a  united  South 
to  make  war  on  the  flag  and  overthrow  the  Constitution. 

Just  two  hundred  and  forty-one  years  ago,  in  the  soil  of  Vir¬ 
ginia,  the  seeds  that  originated  this  conspiracy  were  planted 
— and  strange  as  it  may  seem,  that  is  the  very  ground  now 
selected  by  a  gracious  Providence  to  commence  its  eradication 

Its  origin  dates  far  back  to  British  crime,  and  British  avarice 
is  now  secretly  aiding  their  offspring  to  overthrow  and  destroy 
a  government  that  would  otherwise  be  peaceable,. prosperous, 
and  happy.  This  power  has  grown  up  outside  of  the  national 
government,  and  is  as  foreign  and  as  antagonistic  as  hell  is  to 
heaven.  It  is  truly  a  British  question  that  was  overlooked  by 
our  fathers,  and  is  the  only  unfinished  part  of  the  American 
Revolution.  If  it  had  not  now  arrayed  itself  against  the  liber¬ 
ties  they  had  acquired,  it  might  have  existed  unmolested  for 
some  time  to  come  :  but  it  became  restless  for  dominion,  and 
with  a  well  settled  purpose  it  has  commenced  war  against  the 
government,  with  a  determination  to  destroy  it  and  erect  on 
its  ruins  a  monarchy  founded  exclusively  on  slavery.  The 
principles  of  these  slavery  crusaders  go  far  beyond  the  color  of 
the  skin,  and  with  one  broad  sweep  they  gather  in  their  clutches 
the  whole  human  race  by  proclaiming  the  doctrine  (lacking 
only  time  and  opportunity  to  put  it  in  practice)  that  capital 
should  own  and  not  hire  labor. 

Looking  upon  the  great  bulk  of  mankind  as  beasts  of  burden, 
to  be  owned,  sold,  and  worked,  irrespective  of  color,  by  the 
lazy  few ;  this  is  slavery  full  grown,  and  are  the  principles  that 
come  in  contact  and  are  waging  war  against  liberty.  The 
General  Government  is  founded  on  the  principle  that  freedom 
is  the  gift  of  God.  “  Destroy  that  belief,  eradicate  it  from  the 
minds  of  the  people,”  says  Jefferson,  “  and  our  whole  super¬ 
structure  crumbles  into  dust.” 

In  this  deadly  contest,  each  man  must  decide  for  himself 
which  side  he  will  take.  Eternal  justice  is  with  the  Govern¬ 
ment — hell  and  slavery  are  threatening  its  overthrow.  The 
Rebels  already  look  upon  their  case  as  hopeless,  except  they 
can  command  foreign  aid.  We  have  from  undoubted  authority 
that  the  commissioners  sent  out  to  European  governments,  by 


OH,  ITS  CAUSE  AND  CURE. 


11 


Davis  &  Co.,  have  very  large  discretionary  powers,  and  were 
to  act  on  them  as  the  emergency  and  desperation  of  their  cause 
might  require.  They  were  first  to  use  every  means  at  their 
command  to  get  England  and  France  to  recognize  in  the  family  of 
nations  their  one-eyed  confederacy.  Failing  to  accomplish 
that,  and  their  cause  becoming  deplorable  on  the  field  of  battle, 
they  have  instructions  to  enter  into  any  alliances  t  hat  would 
be  acceptable.  If  all  fail,  then  as  a  last  resort  they  are  first  to 
offer  to  sell  the  country  to  Great  Britain— if  she  declines  to 
purchase,  the  offer  is  next  to  be  made  to  the  French  Emperor. 
All  this  agrees  exactly  with  what  Russell,  the  spy  of  the  British 
Government  and  correspondent  of  the  London  Times ,  wrote 
from  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  directly  after  the  bombard¬ 
ment  of  Fort  Sumter.  He  says 

11  It  appeared  to  he  the  wish  of  the  wealthy  and  refined,  in  fact  all 
classes  joined  in  the  general  desire  that  some  branch  of  the  Royal  Family 
would  come  over  and  take  up  lodgings  in  the  beautiful  city  of  Charles¬ 
ton,  to  rule  over  the  Southern  Confederacy.” 

A  fellow  by  the  name  of  Hine,  after  seeing  the  London  Times 
containing  Russell’s  letter,  concluded  that  he  had  been  more 
bold  than  discreet  in  forcing  the  bud  to  blossom  before  it  had 
matured.  In  a  letter  to  the  Charleston  Courier )  June  18th,  1861, 
he  says  : — 

11  The  people  of  South  Carolina,  gentry  and  commoners,  are  not  Demo¬ 
or  atic.  They  believe  no  more  in  king  numbers  than  in  the  divine  right 
of  Queen  Victoria. ” 

Very  well  for  Hine.  His  cause  is  hopeless,  and  it  is  not 
strange  that  men  who  have  all  their  life-time  been  trading  in 
the  birth-rights  of  the  poor  slave  should  get  so  debased,  like 
Esau  of  old,  and  offer  to  trade  off  their  own.  The  remarks 
made  by  Mr.  Pinckney,  in  the  House  of  Delegates  in  the  State 
of  Maryland,  in  1789,  are  peculiarly  adapted  to  the  present 
time,  and  show  that  the  author  had  studied  human  nature  well. 
He  said  : — 

“  I  have  no  hope  that  the  stream  of  political  liberty  will  ever  flow  un¬ 
polluted  through  the  mire  of  partial  bondage,  or  that  they  who  have  been 
habituated  to  lord  it  over  others  will  not  become  base  enough  in  time  to 
invite  others  to  lord  it  over  them.” 


12 


THE  WAR  AND  ITS  END  ; 


Thus  we  see  when  individuals  or  nations  start  out  with  un¬ 
sound  principles,  it  is  generally  the  means  of  making  their 
pathway  through  life  very  difficult  and  their  stay  on  earth  very 
short.  Their  case  is  now  getting  very  desperate.  Heretofore 
they  have  remained  in  their  strongholds  erected  for  protection 
— all  their  ports  are  now  blockaded,  their  supplies  cutoff  from 
without  and  within,  and  the  great  army  of  freemen,  with  a 
step  as  steady  as  time,  are  advancing  into  the  dark  regions  of 
slavery.  They  go  in  a  holy  cause,  determined  to  fight  over 
again  the  battles  of  the  Revolution.  We  lift  up  the  arms 
where  our  fathers  had  laid  them  down,  and  give  new  vigor  to 
the  cause,  rejoicing  that  we  have  the  opportunity  of  conveying 
constitutional  liberty  unsullied  to  posterity.  That  we  shall 
successfully  defend  our  government  against  all  its  foes,  is  a 
fixed  fact.  The  question  is  often  asked  how  we  shall  wean  the 
affections  of  the  South  back  to  the  Constitution.  It  would  be 
useless,  we  think,  to  attempt  it  so  long  as  the  cause  of  their 
disloyalty  remains  unremoved.  Let  a  death  blow  be  struck  at 
slavery.  It  is  making  war  on  the  government,  aud  has  suc¬ 
ceeded  in  poisoning  the  principles  of  nearly  all  the  deluded 
people  wherever  it  exists.  There  are  then  but  two  ways  of 
mastering  this  troublesome  question,  and  they  who  attempt  to 
meet  it  otherwise  will  find  out  when  too  late  their  mistake. 
There  is  no  time  for  trifling.  The  armies  are  arrayed  against 
each  other  with  torches  lit  and  swords  drawn.  The  South  de¬ 
mands  a  dishonorable  peace — that  is,  that  the  government  shall 
cut  its  own  throat  and  become  a  political  suicide  by  recogniz¬ 
ing  the  independence  of  the  Southern  Confederacy.  This  the 
slave  power  has  determined,  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet,  to  force 
upon  the  supporters  of  the  Constitution,  compelling  them  to 
aid  in  digging  a  political  grave,  in  which  is  to  be  buried  the 
National  Government  and  flag  with  all  their  hallowed  recol¬ 
lections.  This  never  could  restore  tranquillity,  but  would  al¬ 
ways  remain  a  cause  for  disturbance  and  civil  war.  The  true 
way  to  bring  about  an  honorable  and  permanent  peace  is,  to 
fight  to  the  death  to  sustain  the  Constitution  as  it  is — cling  to 
it  as  the  sheet  anchor  of  our  liberties — and  if  in  the  terrible 
battle  slavery  falls,  we  will  have  the  consolation  of  knowing 
that  we  have  carried  out  the  wishes  and  design  of  the  founders 
of  our  government,  and  removed  forever  from  our  midst  the 
only  cause  of  domestic  strife  and  foreign  interference.  This 


OR,  ITS  CAUSE  AND  CURE. 


13 


is  God’s  peace,  founded  securely  in  the  eternal  nature  of  things, 
and  will  exalt  the  name  of  America  abroad  and  secure  ever¬ 
lasting  peace  and  happiness  at  home. 

The  South  are  already  organizing  regiments  of  blacks.  Two 
have  been  mustered  into  the  service  at  New  Orleans.: — 
It  is  the  duty  of  the  government  to  meet  this  squarely  and 
promptly,  by  raising  the  banner  of  liberty  to  the  African  in 
aliSrates  that  are  in  arms  against  its  authority.  When  this  is 
done,  every  stripe  in  that  good  old  flag  will  show  plainer,  and 
every  star  shine  brighter.  This  is  the  true  way  to  prevent  a 
bloody  insurrection,  as  the  slaves  will  only  have  to  will  it  to 
become  free. 

This  good  work  should  at  once  commence  in  Virginia,  near 
as  possible  the  very  spot  where  the  curse  had  its  origin.  The 
blacks,  who  would  rush  to  the  standard  of  the  government, 
being  well  acquainted  with  the  localities  of  the  country,  would 
prove  valuable  aids  as  our  army  advances.  A  sufficient  num¬ 
ber  of  them  should  be  organized  under  white  officers,  to  remain 
as  a  police  force  to  preserve  order  and  protect  loyal  citizens  in 
the  rear  of  our  army.  This  would  be  a  master  stroke  of  policy 
on  the  part  of  the  government,  and  the  conspiracy,  and  slavery 
its  cause,  would  fall  prostrate  together.  In  no  case  should  men 
be  permitted  to  suffer  who  had  arisen  above  self-interest  to 
support  the  loyal  cause — all  of  this  kind  in  the  border  States, 
and  the  glorious  patriots  who  have  stood  out  in  the  dark  night 
of  rebellion  in  the  seceded  States,  anxiously  looking  for  the 
bright  star  of  the  Constitution  to  come  to  their  aid — they 
should  receive  a  recompense  for  their  loyalty,  and  paid  some¬ 
thing  for  their  property  in  slaves.  By  this  means  the  govern¬ 
ment  would  rally  to  its  support  all  the  border  States,  which 
have  thus  far  remained  lukewarm,  by  pointing  out  to  them 
the  star  of  their  destiny.  A  spirit  of  enthusiasm,  like  Jonah’s 
goard,  would  spring  up  in  one  night,  rivaling  Massachusetts  it¬ 
self.  This  would  bring  a  new  power  to  bear  that  would  crush 
the  conspiracy  in  ninety  days,  with  no  more  expenditure  of 
treasure  and  less  waste  of  life  than  would  be  brought  about  in 
carrying  on  the  war  in  any  other  way.  The  fathers  of  the 
Revolution,  who  longed  to  see  the  day  when  this  country 
should  be  free  in  fact  as  well  as  in  name,  are  in  heaven  now, 
rejoicing  that  the  hour  has  struck.  The  present  generation, 
now  living  and  suffering  the  inconveniences  and  miseries  of 


14 


THE  WAR  AND  ITS  END  ; 


this  war  of  slavery — and  future  generations— all  demand  of 
President  Lincoln,  members  of  his  Cabinet,  and  Members  of 
Congress,  that  there  should  be  no  useless  expenditure  of  the 
blood  and  treasure  of  the  nation.  All  see  and  know  that  slavery 
is  the  sole  cause  of  the  trouble.  Sound  policy,  as  a  matter  of 
national  defence,  and  the  never  changing  principles  of  eternal 
justice,  mingle  with  the  cry  of  the  oppressed.  All  demand  that 
slavery  shall  be  eradicated,  now  and  forever.  The  whole  power 
of  the  government  should  be  brought  to  bear  to  accomplish  the 
good  work,  and  thousands  who  are  now  in  arms  against  it,  will 
live  to  bless  their  defeat.  Any  patched  up  peace,  leaving 
slavery  in  the  body  politic,  would  be  only  healing  over  the 
sore,  to  fester  and  break  out  anew  in  the  next  generation.  It 
will  always  serve  as  a  rallying  point  to  gather  the  restless  and 
disaffected  to  make  war  on  the  Constitution.  To  settle  it  per¬ 
manently  then,  is  the  sole  business  of  this  war  ;  and  in  blotting 
out  this  foul  inconsistency  of  American  character,  President 
Lincoln  and  General  Scott  start  a  new  era  in  the  history  of 
our  country,  and  their  names  will  enter  immortality  in  company 
with  Washington. 

There  is  no  truth  more  firmly  rooted  in  the  minds  of  men 
than  that  freedom  is  the  glorious  inheritance  given  by  the 
great  Author  of  nature  to  the  whole  human  race.  H  lights 
their  rugged  pathways  with  bright  hopes  of  the  future,  and 
emits  a  silvery  edge  around  the  darkest  clouds  of  their  exist¬ 
ence.  But  slavery  extinguishes  the  priceless  jewel,  and,  with 
a  power  as  unfeeling  as  the  grave,  holds  its  victims  in  darkness 
forever — but  as  God  has  set  a  limit  to  the  dominion  of  death, 
so  He  has  set  a  time  to  hear  and  avenge  the  cry  of  the  slave. 
That  time  has  at  last  come  !  and  the  enormities  of  all  the  crimes 
of  the  slave  power  are  only  made  more  hideous,  in  the  eyes  of 
the  world,  by  the  effort  it  is  now  making,  without  cause  or 
provocation,  to  strike  a  death-blow  at  the  Constitution  and  the 
flag  of  the  immortal  Washington.  Every  effort  is  being  made 
by  this  enemy  of  liberty  to  extinguish  from  the  blue  sky  of  our 
national  emblem  several  of  the  bright  stars  that  first  dawned 
on  its  existence.  A  bold  stroke  to  carry  out  a  plot,  that  must 
have  originated  in  the  lowest  corner  of  hell,  to  destroy  the  best 
hopes  of  mankind.  But  it  will  not  succeed!  Already  our 
three  hundred  thousand,  with  veins  filled  with  the  best  blood 
of  the  brave,  have  rallied  to  uphold  the  Constitution  and  flag 


OR,  ITS  CAUSE  AND  CURE. 


15 


of  their  fathers — and  millions  more  stand  ready,  if  needed, 
to  engage  in  the  same  good  work.  These  our  patriotic  bre¬ 
thren,  who  were  first  to  respond  to  the  call  of  their  country, 
carry  with  them  to  the  field  of  battle  the  fondest  hopes,  the 
earnest  prayers  of  the  hearts  left  behind  them.  With  a  cause 
so  holy  and  affections  so  united,  each  officer  and  soldier  will 
do  deeds  of  daring  that  will  sound  throughout  all  time.  Sol¬ 
diers  and  citizens!  we  all  know  what  has  caused  this  trouble 
— it  is  slavery. 

Jefferson,  as  with  the  spirit  of  prophecy,  foresaw  its  tendency 
and  wept  over  it.  Washington,  in  his  Farewell  Address,  warn¬ 
ed  us  that  it  would  come.  Madison  would  not  consent  to  taint 
the  Constitution  with  even  the  name  of  a  slave.  Patrick  Henry 
hoped  that  the  time  would  come  when  it  would  be  abolished — 
“if  not  in  our  day,”  he  says,  “let  us  transmit  to  our  descend¬ 
ants,  together  with  our  slaves,  a  pity  for  their  unhappy  lot  and 
an  abhorrence  for  slavery.” 

Monroe  said,  in  his  time,  “  it  had  preyed  on  the  very  vitals 
of  the  Union.”  Henry  Clay  looked  upon  it  with  horror,  and 
declared  that  New  Mexico  and  California  should  never  reproach 
us  as  we  reproached  Great  Britain  with  fastening  on  them  the 
everlasting  curse  of  human  bondage.”  “  When  Mr.  Clay  arose 
in  the  Senate,”  says  Benton,  “and  made  use  of  the  above  re¬ 
marks,  his  countenance  was  all  alive  and  luminous  with  the 
ideas  that  beat  in  his  bosom.  I  could  have  wished  that  I  had 
spoken  the  same  words.  I  speak  them  now,  telling  you  they 
were  his  and  adopting  them  as  my  own.” 

Layfayette  remarked  that  “  he  would  have  never  drawn  a 
sword  in  the  cause  of  America  if  he  had  thought  thereby  that 
he  was  founding  a  land  of  slavery.” 

Slavery  is  tyranny,  and  such  tyranny  is  hard  to  conquer — but 
freedom  is  the  natural  inheritance  of  men,  and  God  will  not 
permit  it  to  be  destroyed.  If  the  pathway  leads  through  rivers 
of  blood  and  seas  of  trouble,  the  government  of  our  fathers 
must  be  sustained.  We  must  come  out  of  this  contest  victori¬ 
ous,  and  by  washing  out  the  stain  of  slavery,  we  leave  our  flag 
spotless  and  crown  our  country  with  immortal  glory.  If  the 
slave  power  succeed  to  destroy  the  beloved  Union,  our  posterity 
will  have  no  shelter  from  oppression — no  proud  nationality  ; 
and  last,  but  not  least,  in  one  common  grave  will  be  buried 
Constitutional  Government  and  liberty  forever.  Arouse,  free- 


16 


THE  WAR  AND  ITS  END. 


men,  arouse  !  Ours  is  the  cause  of  mankind — it  is  the  cause  of 
liberty — it  is  the  cause  of  God.  Let  each  State  have  but  one 
object,  and  that,  to  furnish  men  and  money  in  abundance.  Let 
the  regiments  endeavor  to  surpass  each  other  only  in  danger, 
loyalty,  and  devotion  to  their  country,  extending  to  their  bro¬ 
thers  of  foreign  birth  the  hand  of  perpetual  brotherhood. 
They  saw  the  glittering  stars  of  Washington’s  flag  from  afar, 
and  left  the  land  of  their  nativity  to  find  under  its  folds  a  home 
from  oppression.  They  know  the  worth  of  liberty.  Irish, 
German,  Italian,  Scotch,  and  French,  have  made  our  cause 
their  cause,  and  will  either  die  at  their  post  of  duty  or  triumph 
in  victory.  Let  the  war  be  of  short  duration.  By  removing 
the  cause,  the  troubles  will  cease,  and  we  shall  perpetuate  our 
glorious  Union  forever  ! 

Speak  out,  ve  guardians  of  the  free  ! 

Shall  this' vile  scourge  increase? 

Shall  we  to  Traitors  bow  the  knee, 

Or  shall  their  inroads  cease? 

Let  freemen  rise,  ere  Freedom  fall, 

And  vindicate  the  rights  of  all. 


